‘Tonight Show’ will always be from Hollywood: Editorial

Question: What’s the meaning of the departure of “The Tonight Show” after today’s taping?

OK, we’re not funny like Carnac the Magnificent, but then few Southern Californians will find as much to laugh at in this end of an era as they did during the 42 years after Johnny Carson moved “The Tonight Show” from Manhattan to Burbank.

As the Jay Leno era ends and new host Jimmy Fallon prepares to start up the iconic late-night show again in New York, the change becomes a symbol of the loss of television and movie production that has hit this region’s economy hard in recent years.

New York lured the show with the help of production tax credits that seemed to have been written specifically for that purpose. This is part of the New York economic incentives that dwarf what California offers to producers. New York is one of many states and countries that have been using financial incentives to take lucrative entertainment business away from its historic mecca in the Los Angeles area.

As an editorial here said last month, California must consider a raise in its $100 million annual cap on production incentives, new guidelines for how incentives are awarded, and stepped-up local efforts to keep TV and movies here.

Beyond the economic implications of “Tonight’s” move, it may be a blow to the region’s self-image.

Carson brought the show to the edge of the San Fernando Valley in 1972 because this is where the celebrity guests lived and worked. But in new era for communication and technology, no place rules the entertainment world as Hollywood used to.

There may be a bright side to the end of “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” — in Burbank — and the start of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Feb. 17 — in New York.

The silver lining is that this underscores the success of Southern California’s greatest export.

The entertainment culture that America saw on “The Tonight Show” couch knows no borders now. Hollywood is now everywhere.